And be careful with parkour. It's ridiculously easy to break yourself doing that - I sincerely hope you're starting in a gym on pads instead of trying to do it outdoors on buildings and the like.

Blargh, so possibly what happened to my shoulder... just at the top of my leg muscle instead. Fabulous. (It's definitely not where the hip is though.)

The parkour thing is inside in a gym. I think it'll mostly be running/jumping to begin with since everyone I'm going with is a stark beginner and I'm the only one who even has any gymnastics experience at all.

Running is one of the easiest sports to get into. Strap your shoes on and just go outside. Run as slow as you want, and as little as you want, and then just increase it the next time you go out. You don't need a gym membership, or a GPS tracker, or any kind of fancy gear - just a pair of shoes (and a sports bra if you're a chick).

I found out I put a few pounds back on (whoops), so I may try this out to try and shed them again. Still can't find a proper motivation, 'cause I don't think "to get people to shut the hell up before I punch them" is a good one. Am going to drag my roommate into this since he does want to lose his bulk.

Big downside is that, due to stupidity at work and shit, I'll have to get up an hour earlier to do this, which will make me even more pissed off than normal, which should be an absolute joy for whomever I interact with.

Fetzie wrote:The Defias Brotherhood is back, and this time they are acting as racketeers in Goldshire. Anybody wishing to dance for money must now pay them protection money or be charged triple the normal amount when repairing.

I drained them out of my system about six years ago, bottled them, and threw them in the ocean, along with a note. Let me know if you find that bottle.

Fetzie wrote:The Defias Brotherhood is back, and this time they are acting as racketeers in Goldshire. Anybody wishing to dance for money must now pay them protection money or be charged triple the normal amount when repairing.

Nikachelle wrote:Running is one of the easiest sports to get into. Strap your shoes on and just go outside. Run as slow as you want, and as little as you want, and then just increase it the next time you go out. You don't need a gym membership, or a GPS tracker, or any kind of fancy gear - just a pair of shoes (and a sports bra if you're a chick).

So. Much. This.

I have a plan for people who aren't shooting for the 30 day 5k. It's far more reasonable, and I've had a lot of success easing my friends into working out with this:

Walk/jog means to jog until you're out of breath, then walk until you've recovered enough to jog some more. Jog means to jog without stopping to walk. Walking is when you always have at least one foot on the ground, jogging is when you bounce from one foot to the next. A brisk walk should be roughly at the same pace as a walk/jog, but keep it to something classified as a walk instead of a jog.

That gets you to doing 2 miles*, which is a reasonable enough distance. At this point, start working on your pace. Aim to get it down to 16 minutes for a 3k run before the end of month 3 - that's an 8 minute mile pace, which is pretty good if you're going from couch potato to distance runner. Once you hit 8 minute miles, then start working on distance (this time up it 1k every week instead of every 2 weeks) again until you're up to 5k - or roughly 3 miles.

I also cannot - repeat, CANNOT - stress this enough: before starting a running plan, visit a good shoe store and find the right shoe for your foot type. This will help prevent a number of injuries, like shin splints, fallen arches, and any number of other issues beginning runners get.

*I also highly recommend doing body-weight exercises at the very least on "off" days. Pushups and situps in particular, but also deep knee bends, flutter kicks, leg lifts, bicycle kicks, back extensions and the like. You can download a copy of the Army's FM 21-20 for free here (clicky), which has a pretty decent and fairly comprehensive listing of body weight exercises that you can do. Bonus: it's free.

- I'm not Jesus, but I can turn water into Kool-Aid.- A Sergeant in motion outranks an officer who doesn't know what the hell is going on.- A demolitions specialist at a flat run outranks everybody.

8 minutes per mile is an absolutely insane pace for a couch potato within three months. I run 3-4 days a week and I'm not even running close to that pace (latest race results have me at 8:51 per mile and that's in race conditions when I just naturally run faster due to adrenaline). I don't think 8 minute miles are a realistic goal for someone when they're first starting out.

The build-up is also about helping to find their rhythm, I think I forgot to mention that part. And I've seen people go from plebe fatbodies to 7 minute miles in the course of 8 weeks or less. Granted, that's part and parcel of the whole concept behind military boot camp, but still.

Pay attention to your breathing. Count your footfalls during each inhalation, like inhale-2-3, exhale-2-3, etc. Once you've got a rhythm that you can keep up for the entire distance of your run (keep the rhythm going, that's the most important bit), then start speeding up your breathing and keep your footfalls matched to it. That's the easiest way I can think of to increase your pace.

The sticky part is getting over the tendency to hold your breath while you're running and forcing the rhythm you've developed over the course of building up to a distance goal. Keep your breathing smooth and even, and steady - it helps if you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Once you've got that rhythm down, distance won't be an issue ever again. As long as you keep your breathing even with your own personal rhythm your legs can keep going far, far longer than your mind can (at least until you're at a MUCH higher skill level - think decathlete here). It sounds counterintuitive, but give it a shot and have faith in yourself. I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised.

Distance runners should also make sure they're running with a heel-toe foot strike. Sprinters run on the balls of their feet and use the springiness of a tensed ankle to help build up speed off of the blocks. Don't do that, at least not over the course of a long run. Even sprinters switch to heel-toe running after they're off the blocks and fully upright.

- I'm not Jesus, but I can turn water into Kool-Aid.- A Sergeant in motion outranks an officer who doesn't know what the hell is going on.- A demolitions specialist at a flat run outranks everybody.

Ran my first 10k race in New York City this past Saturday. 59:37 total time. I had wanted around 60 minutes (although I was hoping for the magic of a race to take me 5 minutes under that), so overall I'm pretty happy with it. Happy enough with the results and now I have a starting point to work from for my next 10k race.

I wish I could jog but it is too much impact for my back. I have a herniated disc and it doesn't take a lot to irritate it. I need to look into an elyptical machine. In the mean time, I walk. Today I weighed myself and I'm officially the lightest I've been in probably 10+ years. I started my trek at ~320lbs two years ago. Today my scale told me I was at 259. I've done several different lifestyles. Low calorie, low fat, low carb. A combination of low calorie + low carb seems to work best for me. My goal is to be at 220. At 6'2 I'll still be doughy but I feel that will be a reasonable goal to hit. We'll see what things are like at the time and maybe I'll push for 200.

Another victory for me: 10 years ago I bought two sizes of my favourite skirt. One was two sizes smaller than the bigger one. For 10 years I have kept that skirt hoping to one day fit into it. TODAY IS THAT DAY. I even cut the tags off today. I'm fairly certain this isn't in style any longer, but I've got zero shits to give!

Another victory for me: 10 years ago I bought two sizes of my favourite skirt. One was two sizes smaller than the bigger one. For 10 years I have kept that skirt hoping to one day fit into it. TODAY IS THAT DAY. I even cut the tags off today. I'm fairly certain this isn't in style any longer, but I've got zero shits to give!

Personal success > style.

Once the endorphins wear off of being able to fit in the skirt... then you can worry about whether it being in style is a concern to you :D.

I complained to my mother about the need to buy smaller jeans, since I am fairly certain I can take my belt in another notch, save for the extra denim bunching at the waist in a seriously unattractive fashion. She's offered to take them in, since she's having to do it to her own skirts (weight loss due to chemo).

I realised this AM that the jeans I am currently wearing are the same ones that, last week, I was able to just tug off, instead of having to unbutton/unzip them.

Fetzie wrote:The Defias Brotherhood is back, and this time they are acting as racketeers in Goldshire. Anybody wishing to dance for money must now pay them protection money or be charged triple the normal amount when repairing.

Another victory for me: 10 years ago I bought two sizes of my favourite skirt. One was two sizes smaller than the bigger one. For 10 years I have kept that skirt hoping to one day fit into it. TODAY IS THAT DAY. I even cut the tags off today. I'm fairly certain this isn't in style any longer, but I've got zero shits to give!

Excellent! I also have some stuff I'm waiting to fit into as I progress. I bought a pair of nice overalls (what? why?!) that were a bit too small with plans on fitting into them in time. I also have a very nice leather jacket waiting for me. Finally my mom got me a nice Seahawks shirt. It was a bit too small and she felt bad but I told her it's totally fine. Gives me another goal to work towards.

Amirya wrote:I complained to my mother about the need to buy smaller jeans, since I am fairly certain I can take my belt in another notch, save for the extra denim bunching at the waist in a seriously unattractive fashion. She's offered to take them in, since she's having to do it to her own skirts (weight loss due to chemo).

I realised this AM that the jeans I am currently wearing are the same ones that, last week, I was able to just tug off, instead of having to unbutton/unzip them.

One thing that lifts my spirits lately is walking around and noticing after a few weeks my pants start to fall down on the newest notch I've put on my belt. That is more satisfying to me than seeing the number on the scale go down.

Gracerath wrote:One thing that lifts my spirits lately is walking around and noticing after a few weeks my pants start to fall down on the newest notch I've put on my belt. That is more satisfying to me than seeing the number on the scale go down.

And a very nice job you are doing, too! Keep at it!

As for me, you would think that being a female, I would at least like clothes shopping enough to jump at the chance when I have the time/money/energy. But alas, I despise clothes shopping, and would be perfectly happy wearing 3x men's shirts and baggy jeans (I've already been told that I will not be allowed to do that).

Went out to eat tonight, first thing I did was ask for a box since I was taking some home to my mother. Wound up taking two boxes home, instead. And I had loosened my belt a notch in anticipation of seafood yumminess. But my belly could not handle it, so at the car, I had to take that notch back in, or lose my jeans.

Fetzie wrote:The Defias Brotherhood is back, and this time they are acting as racketeers in Goldshire. Anybody wishing to dance for money must now pay them protection money or be charged triple the normal amount when repairing.

ARGH! I need to come up with a team name for a corporate 5K run event for my team (so for my coworkers and stuff), and all I can think about is internet memes (theme being cheese, cats and/or mice). Everyone would just think I'd have a spelling problem.

Fetzie wrote:The Defias Brotherhood is back, and this time they are acting as racketeers in Goldshire. Anybody wishing to dance for money must now pay them protection money or be charged triple the normal amount when repairing.